edwards



No. 625,327. Patented May 23, I899.

J. EDWARDS. DUMPING SCOW/ (Application filed Mar. 30, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

% WITN E 2/ no: nonms Prrzis co, rumourno wunmarum 11c No. 625,327. Patented May 23, I899. J. EDWARDS.

DUMPING SCDW.

7 (Application filed Mar. 30, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Shunt 2.

A 7'TOHNE Y No. 625,327. Patented May 23, I899. J. EDWARDS.

DUMPING 800W.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1899.)

4 Shaets-Sheet 3.

(No ModeLj INENTOH "mi uonms PETERS co. Pno'rauwn, WASHINGTON. n. c.

No. 525,327. Patented May 23, I899. J. EDWARDS.

DUMPING 800W.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. Y

WITNESS /NV 0/? X By TTOHNE Y NlTED STATE-s PATENT OFF cE.

JOSEPH EDXVARDS, OF YORK, N. Y.

DUMPlNG-SCOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,327, datedMay 23, 1899.

Application filed March 30, 1899. Serial No. 711,044. (N0 model.)

To (tZZ whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH EDWARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, in the city and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Dredging Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the means of discharging dredged materials from and through the hulls of vessels employed in dredging and vessels for freighting dredged materials, and particularly to the method of holding, opening, and closing the dump doors through which the cargoes of such vessels are discharged.

It is the case that some kinds of dredged material-for example, fine sandwill compact so closely in the bins of such vessels as to resist the force of gravity and downward atmospheric pressure, wherefore the dump doors or ports are not self-opening when released, in which case downward-acting pressure is required to force them open. Having found by extensive practice in the use of dump-doors that hinging them to-the vessel best facilitates their control, my device embraces this method of their attachment to the vessel. It must be kept in mind that such dump-doors, especially on the larger deepsea dredging-steamers, are heavy and large, and that therefore, particularly in rough seaways, great power is required to handle them, and that they must be securely held at every point of their movement when being opened and closed, and that all of them on the same vessel require, preferably, to be simultaneously opened in order to unload all parts of the vessel at the same time to prevent strain thereof, and the accomplishment of these results constitutes the'object of my invention, and which I attain by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which' Figure 1 is an elevation; Fig. 2, aplan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, of a part of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an end elevation of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, also an end elevation of Fig. 3, showing the engine furnishing power to operate the device; Fig. 6, a plan view on the line 2' t' of Fig. 3; Fig. 7, atransverse section of one of the dump-doors, showing its relation to the bottom of the vessel; and Fig. 8, a plan view of a modification of one feature of my device.

Similar numerals and letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

1', 2, 3, and 4 represent bins having converging or hopper-shaped bottoms a-a to direct the material to be discharged to the wellholes 5 5, the mouths of which at the bottom are closed by the dump-doors 6 6. The bins are similarly located on both sides of the central fore-and-aft line of the vessel.

7 7 are connecting-rods attached by a working joint at their lower ends to the dumpdoors and at their upper ends to the operating device. Two connecting-rods are employed for'each dump-door instead of one, for the reason that when operated with only one connecting-rod the dump-doors become strained and wrenched by the action of rough seas when they (the doors) are in an open position. I

Referring to Fig. 3, 8 is a standard secured to the deck-beams 9 9 of the vessel. The interior of the standard 8 is provided with slideways 10, to which is fitted a cross-head 11 to slide up and down on the said ways; 12, a yoke horizontally extending from and pivoted at its center on the said cross-head 11, to the ends of which the connecting-rods 7 7 are at tached, said rods being threaded at the top and provided with nuts above and below the yoke to adjust their length; 13, a threaded rod extending up from and rigidly secured to the said cross-head 11; 14:, a wheel-nut fitted to work on the said threaded rod 13; 15, the periphery of the said wheel-nut, having thereon worm-gear teeth; 16, a flange on the bottom of the body 14 of the said wheel-nut, which said flange is fitted to rotate in a corresponding socket at the top of the standard 8 and held in the said socket by the collar 17; 18, a worm' fitted to work in and operate the said wheel-nut; 18, a shaft on which is mounted and actuates the Worm; 19, a shaftholding bracket extending up from and bein g a part of the standard 8 to carry the shaft 18. This shaft, as seen in Fig. 3, is broken off, but, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, it extends along from one bin to another and has a common relation, as above pointed out, with each and every dump-door on the same side of the vessel, and the same provision is made for operating the dump-doors on the other side of the vessel. The worms on these shafts that mesh with and operate the said wheelnuts 14 are best shown in Figs. 2 and 6. d cl are couplings that connect the shaft 18 with the worms. 2015 a suitable steam-engine for operating the said shafts, 21 being a balanced wheel to steady its action.

Having pointed out the various parts of my device, I will now briefly explain the operation of my invention.

The drawings represent the dump-doors as they are when in the closed position. To force them open, the engine 20, Fig. 3, is started in the direction that will rotate the shaft 18, and so the several worms thereon .in the direction that will run the threaded bar 13 downward, which will correspondingly carry downward the yokes 12 12, and by the connecting-rods 7 7 the dump-doors 6 6 will be opened. By reversing the motion of the engine the dump-doors will of course be closed.

By stopping the engine at any point of the opening of the said doors they will be securely held in that position until the engine is again started.

One great advantage of my invention is that it enables one man to operate all the dumpdoors, even of the largest vessel, instead of, as heretofore, requiring a man to operate each of the same separately. Besides this, they are operated much quicker and simultaneously, which prevents any strain on the vessel by discharging the contents of one bin before another, and by means of the pivoted yoke 12 the two connecting-rods to each du1npdoor take an equal strain, and thus apply an equal force at two points on the dump-doors.

I do not limit myself to any particular motive power for operating the shafts on which the worms are mounted, as they may be actuated by electric motors or engines run by compressed air; but I prefer steam-engines, as on such vessels steam is usually at hand, it-being provided for other purposes.

I am aware that hinged dump-doors operated by a sliding rod having an intervening connecting-rod have been used, as described in Patent No. 408,298, granted to myself August 6,1889. ThereforeIdonotclaim,broadly, the use of a sliding rod and a connecting-rod for operating hinged dump-doors irrespective of the method of operating such rods.

\VhatI claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a dumping vessel a dump-door hinged to the vessel and provided with two connecting-rods having their lower ends attached to the dump-door and their upper ends to the opposite ends of a pivoted yoke in combination with suitable means of forcing the pivoted point of the yoke upward and downward, whereby the said rods act con 3' ointly and with equalized force on the dump-door at their point of attachment thereto, for the purpose set forth. v

2. In a dumping vessel a dump-door hinged to the vessel and provided with two connecting-rods having their lower ends attached to the dump-door and their upper ends to the opposite ends of an equalizing-yoke pivoted to a sliding cross-head having a vertical threaded rod and thereon a vertically-stationary but horizontally-rotative wheel-nut having wormteeth on its periphery in combination with a horizontal shaft having thereon a worm fitted to work in and operate the said wheel-nut, and means for actuating said horizontal shaft.

3. In a dumping vessel a series of bins having a corresponding, series of hinged dumpdoors each having two connecting-rods, the upper ends of which are connected to equalizing-yokes pivoted to cross-head slides hav-. ing slideways and the said cross-head slides having vertical threaded rods fitted to be forced up and down by vertically-stationary but rotative wheel-nuts having at their pe ripheries worm-teeth and a correspondingseries of worms one for each of said dump-doors, mounted in alinement on a single horizontal shaft in combination with suitable means of actuating said single shaft, whereby the whole series of the dump-doors are simultaneously opened and closed by the actionof the said single shaft.

4. In a dredging vessel, a threaded sliding rod having a vertically-stationary but horizontally-rotative wheel-nut fitted to work thereon and having a worm-gear at its periphery, in combination with a suitable connecting-rod, and a hinged dump-door and any ordin'ary means of operating the said worm-gear.

JOSEPH EDIVARDS. XVitnesses:

MAYBURY W. BIRCH, HENRY J. SAVAGE. 

